Non-volatile memory is becoming standard in many products such as digital cameras and digital audio players, and write-once memory devices offer the advantage of low manufacturing costs. Despite its advantages, a write-once memory device cannot be erased since the original, un-programmed state of a memory location cannot be restored once the memory location is switched to the programmed state. However, a user may wish to delete sensitive data, such as financial information, from a write-once memory device. Further, some upcoming copy protection standards, such as Secure Digital Media Interface, require memory contents to be erased.
There is a need, therefore, for a method for altering a word stored in a write-once memory device.